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HomeMy WebLinkAbout071009 October 9, 2007 Hagerstown, Maryland The regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County, Maryland was called to order at 1:10 p.m. by President John F. Barr with the following members present: Vice President Terry L. Baker, and Commissioners Kristin B. Aleshire, James F. Kercheval, and William J. Wivell. CONVENE IN CLOSED SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Aleshire, seconded by Wivell, to convene in closed session at 1:10 p.m. to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, compensation, and/or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom it has jurisdiction; and personnel matters that affect one or more specific individuals, in accordance with Section 10-508 of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Unanimously approved. RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION Motion made by Commissioner Aleshire, seconded by Kercheval, to reconvene in open session at 2:05 p.m. Unanimously approved. In closed session, the Commissioners discussed the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, and/or compensation of appointees, employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction; and discussed personnel matters that affect one or more specific individuals. Present during closed session were Commissioners John F. Barr, Terry L. Baker, Kristin B. Aleshire, James F. Kercheval, and William J. Wivell. Also present at various times were: Gregory Murray, County Administrator; Joni Bittner, County Clerk; Joseph Kroboth, III, Director of Public Works; Terry McGee, Chief Engineer; and Dee Hawbaker, Acting Human Resources Director. EMPLOY CIVIL ENGINEER – RELATED EQUITY ISSUES Motion made by Commissioner Aleshire, seconded by Kercheval, to employ Greg Barnes as Civil Engineer (Grade 15) in the Engineering Department at a starting salary of $71,000. Commissioner Aleshire amended the Main Motion, seconded by Kercheval, to include increasing the salaries of the other three civil engineers, all Grade 15, to $71,000 in order to provide for internal equity. The Motion as amended carried with Commissioners Aleshire, Kercheval, and Barr voting “AYE” and Commissioners Wivell and Baker voting “NO.” Commissioner Wivell stated for the record that he is not opposed to the hiring of Mr. Barnes, but felt the County could have counter-offered which would not have created internal equity issues. HAGERSTOWN AND WASHINGTON COUNTY GROWTH AREA LAND USE DESIGNATIONS Mike Thompson, Director of Planning & Community Development, and Stephen Goodrich, Chief Planner, met with the Commissioners to provide additional background information on the City of Hagerstown’s land use assignments in the draft of their Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Goodrich stated that the Commissioners requested this information when staff informed them of the differing land use delegations in the respective growth areas of the City and County. Mr. Goodrich recommended that the Commissioners send correspondence to the Hagerstown Mayor and Council acknowledging that certain parcels of land have differing land use designations, indicating that the County would give further consideration to those parcels during the planned 2008 update of the Comprehensive Plan and during any future annexation proposals, in an attempt to achieve consistency. Mr. Goodrich reviewed each of the parcels in question, including the County’s designation, the proposed City designation, and the resolution. After discussion, the Commissioners directed Mr. Goodrich to draft correspondence to the City incorporating their comments and asked that he provide it to them for their review prior to mailing. EXCISE TAX TASK FORCE REPORT John Schnebly, Chair of the Excise Tax Task Force, appeared before the Commissioners to present the report on the building excise tax rate and review the Task Force’s recommendations with them. Mr. Schnebly OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE TWO introduced the Committee members in attendance. He stated that the two most significant changes being recommended are the elimination of many of the exemptions and that the excise tax be assessed on a gross square footage basis for both residential and non-residential construction within the County. He reviewed the following recommendations: 1) The current matrix be eliminated and replaced with a flat fee for non-residential construction. 2) The flat fee for non-residential construction should be set at $0.75 per foot for all construction. 3) Exemptions (j) and (k), non- residential construction, as set forth in Section 5 of the ordinance should be eliminated. 4) Section 3B, non- residential construction, should be revised to eliminate subsections (d) and (e). 5) The Commissioners explore with the Delegation the possibility of having an annual escalator index cost adjustment mechanism for the commercial portion of the building excise tax. 6) The exemption (Section 5(h)) for Elderly Housing should be removed and a separate policy developed by the Board of County Commissioners with regard to affordable/workforce housing. 7) Excise Tax on residential construction should be based on construction activity (defined by square footage) instead of dwelling units. 8) Excise Tax is assessed on all residential additions, but at a rate of 50% of the indicated rate for new construction. 9) Excise tax charge for multi-family residential units (townhouses and duplexes) should be charged a rate comparable to that of single-family residential units based on the total square footage of each unit. 10) The exemptions for farm construction, government construction, residential accessory structures, schools, redevelopment areas, enterprise zones and religious corporations shall remain upon review and clarification of definitions. 11) Section 7(e) of the ordinance should be revised to eliminate “that primarily provide additional capacity.” 12) Section 13 relating to Affordable and Workforce Housing should be eliminated from this ordinance and dealt with in a separate ordinance. 13) The provisions for the doubling of the tax as set forth in Section 3A(b) should be eliminated. 14) A flat rate of $2.00 per square foot to be applied to all habitable square footage for single-family, duplexes and townhouse units including additions. Donna Brightman, member of the Committee, stated that the Board of Education would be discussing the Task Force’s recommendations at a future meeting and would follow-up with the Commissioners. The meeting was then opened for discussion and questions from the Commissioners. Commissioner Kercheval stated that he has a hard time understanding their recommendation for a $2.00 per square foot fee since that would put the County at a large deficit. Mr. Schnebly stated that the Committee was divided on the amount to recommend for a square footage fee, but by a one-vote majority agreed that $2.00 per square foot was appropriate. Greg Murray, County Administrator, indicated that he would include time on next week’s agenda to discuss the recommendations outlined in the Task Force’s report. Commissioner Kercheval stated that they would need additional budgetary information prior to that discussion. The Commissioners stated that they plan to finalize the recommendations in a few weeks in order to allow them to present it to the Delegation to the General Assembly. 2007 MARYLAND INSTITUTE OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SYSTEMS (MIEMSS) GRANT Motion made by Commissioner Aleshire, seconded by Baker, to accept a grant of $2,278 from the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) to offset operating costs associated with the Emergency Medical Dispatch protocol program and to authorize the Director of the Division of Fire and Emergency Services to execute a Memorandum of Agreement with MIEMSS. Unanimously approved. CONTRACT RENEWAL – JURISDICTIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES (EMS) MEDICAL DIRECTOR Motion made by Commissioner Aleshire, seconded by Kercheval, to approve the renewal of the contract with Dr. Vincent Cantone to act as Jurisdictional EMS Medical Director for a one-year period retroactive to September 1, 2007 through September 1, 2008, for the budgeted amount of $25,000. Unanimously approved. OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE THREE RECESS The Commissioners recessed at 4:25 p.m. EVENING SESSION – TOWN OF WILLIAMSPORT The regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County, Maryland was called to order at 7:10 p.m. at the Williamsport Town Hall by President John F. Barr with the following members present: Vice President Terry L. Baker, and Commissioner James F. Kercheval and William J. Wivell. Commissioner Aleshire was absent from the evening meeting. INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Invocation was delivered by Commissioner Barr, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag by the full assemblage. COMMISSIONERS’ REPORTS AND COMMENTS Commissioner Baker reported on the Recreation and Parks Board meeting. He thanked the Town of Williamsport for hosting the meeting. Commissioner Kercheval stated that the City/County “2+2” Committee discussed the False Alarm Ordinance, the Memorandum of Understanding with the State Highway Administration on the U.S. Route 40/Edgewood Drive project, and the leash law being proposed by the City Council. Commissioner Barr stated that he and County Administrator Greg Murray met with Dr. Guy Altieri, President of Hagerstown Community College (HCC), and several members of their Board of Trustees to discuss future initiatives. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S COMMENTS Greg Murray, County Administrator, thanked the Mayor and Council for meeting with them and reminded those in attendance that they can listen to the County Commissioners’ meetings on their computers through the County’s Internet website at www.washco-md.net. He stated that they found that a receivable of $78,000 on the County’s books for the Town of Williamsport had previously been paid. Mr. Murray stated that Commissioner Aleshire was out of town on business and conveyed his apologies for not being in attendance. REPORTS FROM COUNTY STAFF Sheriff Mullendore informed Town officials that Deputy Crowder, who is assigned to the Town of Williamsport, would be leaving for six months on National Guard duty and stated that his position would be filled by another deputy during that time. Norman Bassett, Disabilities Coordinator, informed the Commissioners that the Regional Disabilities Forum is scheduled to be held at the Robinwood Medical Center on October 15. DISCUSSION ITEMS WITH WILLIAMSPORT MAYOR AND COUNCIL Mayor James McCleaf introduced Town Council members Gloria Bitner, Earle Pereschuck, Jeff Cline, Monty Jones and James Kalbfleisch. He thanked the Commissioners for the assistance of the County’s staff on a number of Town projects. Councilman Pereschuck asked for a waiver to allow the Town to recycle Christmas trees at the landfill. CITIZEN’S PARTICIPATION Per-Olof Bachman appeared before the Commissioners to express his concerns regarding a situation near their home on Manor Church Road. Mr. Bachman stated that a neighboring property owner was given approval by the Board of Zoning Appeals to use their property as a Bed and Breakfast, but they are now holding large events on the property. He cited problems with noise, traffic, and sight distances. The Commissioners agreed to look into the matter to see if there are any ongoing violations. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Commissioner Wivell, seconded by Baker, to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. Unanimously approved. OCTOBER 9, 2007 PAGE FOUR _____________________________, County Administrator _____________________________, County Attorney ________________________ County Clerk